South Witham lies in the county of Lincolnshire, just off the A1 road, approximately mid-way between the towns of Stamford and Grantham. The preceptory was situated just North of the village in a field now known as Temple Hill. Unfortunately, nothing can be seen now, as shown in the picture below.
The site of the preceptory
However, this site has revealed much useful information regarding the Templar way of life. An archaeological dig on the site in the 1960s unearthed a complete set of footings for the site. From these, it was possible to determine the layout of the entire preceptory. Interestingly the site would seem to have been an odd choice, as it slopes away quite steeply toward the river Witham which runs across the bottom of the site. The site was open two days a year to the public; the rest of the year, it was off-limits. But twice a year is better than none! This information is now very old, and I’m unsure if the site is open now. It used to be that on the August Bank Holiday weekend, the local Archaeological group, in conjunction with Lincolnshire Heritage, marked out the outlines of the buildings and gave guided tours. A Templar display in the village hall on the same day made the site worth visiting.
The finds from the site number in the 1000s are mostly unidentifiable fragments of pottery. They are all stored away in boxes at the Lincoln Museum and are not normally on display. However, one day in the summer of 2001, a very kind museum curator gave up his Saturday morning and got the artefacts out of storage for those interested in viewing. Below are a few pictures of some of the more interesting finds.
It is believed that one Knight and Sergeant staffed the preceptory when in operation. The preceptory would, I am sure, also have had a chaplain or priest in residence, along with many lay workers, to attend to the running of the farm. The preceptory also owned a mill in the village. This would have been a water mill on the river Witham, as Lincolnshire had no recorded windmills at the time. It also had a half share in the income of the village church. There was a royal visit to the preceptory in 1296, though the visitor’s identity is unclear. This was possibly one of the last major occasions for the preceptory as soon after, control of the site passed into the hands of the knights at Temple Bruer. It is thought that this happened due to the death of the knight in residence and a lack of knights to replace him. After 1307 the preceptory passed into the hands of the crown and fell into disrepair. As usual in these cases, the site was raided of its stone for the building of properties in the surrounding villages, mostly one would assume in South Witham itself.
Today, the village church, dedicated to St John the Baptist, which belonged partly to the Templars, bears no evidence of Templar interest. However, it has an interesting stone coffin lid with a very unusual history. The first records of the lid say that it was fixed in a recess in the wall of the church and that it was there until around 1550. It was then taken from the church and placed face down across the river Witham to act as a footbridge. (It gives you an idea of the size of the Witham at this point.) It stayed acting as a footbridge for 350 years! Until 1905 when it was rescued by the North Witham rector, Rev Stedman Davies. When I last visited it lived behind the organ in the church, half covered by flower-arranging equipment. The origin of the lid is not certain, however, there was evidence of a tomb that fits the measurements of the lid at the Templar site. It has therefore been supposed by many to be of Templar origin. It is certainly an unusual design. The lid is approximately 6 foot 6 inches long, 2 feet wide and 8 inches thick. Whoever was buried in the coffin must certainly have been very tall. If the face on the lid is supposed to represent the person inside, then it has to be said it is unlikely to be a Templar burial, as the face is clean-shaven with long flowing hair, whereas Templar knights had long beards and short hair. I, at this time, have no firm ideas on the subject. You can make your own mind up.
The above information in this story was taken from an old website that I built over 20 years ago.
With regard to the Templar Geometry of Lincolnshire and the Star design, if one draws a line from South Witham to Temple Bruer, it passes precisely through a point in Ancaster where the circle crosses Ermine Street.
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